A Review of the Stylus System to Enhance Usability Through Sensory Feedback

Abstract

With the advent of touchscreen-based smart devices, several studies on the usability of the stylus, a typical touchscreen input method, have been conducted. However, usability studies that simply focus on completing tasks are not suitable for investigating the stylus in various use contexts and with qualitative values. In other words, the context from the user's point of view should be investigated. Therefore this study aims to provide usability directions for improving the stylus system by structurally investigating recent stylus-related studies. After examining stylus-related studies between 2004 to 2017, they were mainly classified into two cases: those considering the use of the stylus in various environments, and those focused on developing the stylus by applying new sensory feedback to increase usability. By systematically analysing and classifying each study, unique features of the stylus were identified and examples of stylus usage in certain domains were summarised. Furthermore, to improve usability, sensory feedback methods that could be applied to the stylus were established. In conclusion, this study derived sensory feedback that would be suitable for the use context of styluses, and proposed guidelines to improve the usability of stylus systems through sensory feedback.